ode

/oʊd/

//oʊd// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"ode" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“ode” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #19,402) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#19,402
frequency rank, English
1,431
“O” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A short poetical composition proper to be set to music or sung; a lyric poem; especially, now, a poem characterized by sustained noble sentiment and appropriate dignity of style.

Corpus desk

Index EN-ode · ode · English

ode · rank #19,402 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #19,402
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,431
  • PHOTO-FINISH oblivious

Nearest frequency peer: oblivious (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbours of confusable “ode”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “ode” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

ode vs of
33% similar
ode vs on
33% similar
ode vs or
33% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for ode
PropertyValue
Headwordode
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/oʊd/
Letters3
Frequency rank#19,402
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “ode” sits in English frequency

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).odelands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “oblivious” (#19,401), “OEM” (#19,403), “nurture” (#19,400). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for ode is neighbouring look-alikes ("of", "on", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /oʊd/. Frequency #19,402 among 1,431 “O” headwords. Gloss: "A short poetical composition proper to be set to music or sung; a lyric poem; especially, now, a poem characterized by sustained noble sentiment and appropriate dignity of style.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for ode in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "of", "on", "or", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle French ode, from Late Latin ōda, from Ancient Greek ᾠδή (ōidḗ, “song”). Doublet of Aoede. The correct English form is ode, spelled O-D-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A short poetical composition proper to be set to music or sung; a lyric poem; especially, now, a poem characterized by sustained noble sentiment and appropriate dignity of style.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how ode appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. write an ode to someone

Etymology

From Middle French ode, from Late Latin ōda, from Ancient Greek ᾠδή (ōidḗ, “song”). Doublet of Aoede.

This word in other languages

oda(Español)ode(Français)Ode(Deutsch)ode(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "ode"?
"ode" is spelled O-D-E. The IPA pronunciation is /oʊd/.
What does "ode" mean?
As a noun, "ode" means: A short poetical composition proper to be set to music or sung; a lyric poem; especially, now, a poem characterized by sustained noble sentiment and appropriate dignity of style.
What words are commonly confused with "ode"?
"ode" is commonly confused with "of", "on", "or". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "ode"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ode" is /oʊd/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "ode"?
From Middle French ode, from Late Latin ōda, from Ancient Greek ᾠδή (ōidḗ, “song”). Doublet of Aoede. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "ode", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

OEM#19,403NEC#19,399lac#19,379Jax#19,376

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list